The Washington critic., 1887-06-03
ANOTHER NEW CRUSADE.

natl have organized themselves into
what they call the American Co.opera.
tive Dramatic Association, Of which
the object is to elevate and purify the
stage.
They propose to inaugurate this
gre,t reform by placing theatrical com
paries on the road, TO play only such
dramatic compositions as have passed
under their censorship and been
stamped as duly proper.
The amount of capital required to
put the scheme into operation is not
stated, bu, the association will need
strong financial backing. The manu-
facture Of dramas Of the approved
standard will involve no small ex.
pensc TO begin with, aud large re-
serve fund to call in such companies as
perchance get stranded on the road will
also lie necessary.
For between the devil and the deep
sea, or In other words, between the To-
tersia,e Commerce law and an inappre-
cialivc public, there arc many serious
chances TO be taken.
The Idea ia not In Itself absurd nor
altogether chimerical. as there Is no
doubt room for improvement in the
direction contemplated; but the educa-
tion of public sentiment admits of no
such forcing process as is here implied.
1t is a gradual growth; and however
inoffensive, in moral point of view,
the plays of the Dramatic Reform AS
ISOLATION might be, this negative
quality alone would not insure their
success.
A mere change from cheap sensation
or loud vulgarity or spectacular empti-
ness to scenic provincialism and goody-
goody lessons In domestic propriety
would scarcely answer an intelligent
and cultivated demand for something
better. As for truly great dramas,
there is probably market for them.
but they are slow of evolution-they
cannot be turned out TO order like
goods out Of a cotton mill, even In Gin.
cinnati.
The fact of the matter is that the
American stage is not as degenerate as
the reformers would have us believe.
There has been good deal Of trash
afloat for some years past, but as rule
II doesn't float great while. 1t is also
true that much which ia not strictly
legitimate even in really dramatic
creations meets with acceptance-it Is
equally certain that audiences which
flnd enjoyment here would turn cold
shoulder on the drama of the proposed
Cincinnati school
But after all, the popular taste In this
country, however much 1t may incline
10 stage performances that are recrea.
tive rather than didaclic, is neither
morbid nor prurient. The successes Of
Booth and Barrett, of Jefferson aud
Florence, of Modj, ska, Mitchell, and
numerous other actors of recognized
ability, who have achieved fame and
fortune, give the lie to any assumption
that the profession is undergoing a
retrograde movement, and that n new
crusade is necessary to redeem II from
Its fallen estate.
Nowhere is genuine merit so quickly
appreciated or ahuudantly rewarded as
II Is on the American stage; nowhere is
the opposite so impatiently tolerated.
Nowhere Is the influence of the
legitimate drama more potent In mould
ing public sentiment; and II 1t be true,
as reported, that the National Opera
Company is about to do away with Its
grand ballet because of the growing
disfavor with which 1t is received In
many large cities, not only by church
people, but by reputable classes of so.
ciety having no religious bias In the
matter, we may safely attribute 1t, in
no small measure, to the growing hold
which honest and wholesome drama
has taken on the public mind.